...on all the things that have had to slide in order to meet other, more pressing deadlines.

Like the sage grouse strutting ground data. Already a month overdue. ('Course, a bunch of it didn't arrive from other folks until today, but still I'm way behind.)

And the breeding bird survey routes I ran last week.

Believe it or not, I spent most of an hour this morning trying to figure out what this little fella was on Stop 46.

Oddly, the field guide with photos of real birds wasn't much help. There's too much individual, regional and seasonal variation in their plumage.

It was one of the guidebooks with coloured drawings that cleared it up for me.

He's a song sparrow.

'Course you knew that, right?